Roddick Slogs Past Parmar; Safin, Srichaphan Win at ATP Bangkok

Other seeded winners Wednesday were (3) Marat Safin (d. Okun), (4) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Chiudinelli), and (8) Robin Soderling (d. Levy), while the lone upset victim was (7) Igor Andreev (l. to (Q) Wassen).

"I am aiming to make the Masters Cup at the end of the year," said Safin, currently at No. 9 on the ATP Rankings. "The tournament win in Beijing pushed me up and I have a lot of confidence, so there is a different situation. Before Beijing I did not think I would win a tournament this year, but now I have to keep this rhythm as confidence and motivation is hard to get."

Srichaphan is looking to deal with the pressure at his home event better than he did last year.

"I'm very excited and I'm glad to win today," said the Thai Fighter, who last year openly wept on the sidelines after his loss. "It's tough for me and I feel nervous in front of the Thai fans. Today I felt a little under pressure as there is a lot of expectations on me and more than any other tournaments. Getting through the first round gives me confidence and makes me more relaxed for the next round. I like to play at home as I can spend time with my friends and family, who like to come and watch."

Other un-seeds into the second round were Jiri Vanek (d. (WC) Udomchoke in three) and Adrian Garcia (d. (WC) Iwabuchi).

Scheduled for second-round action Thursday are van Scheppingen vs. (5) Dent, Vanek vs. (3) Safin, (1) Federer vs. Heuberger in an all-Swiss, Jeff "The Lizard King" Morrison vs. (2) Roddick in an all-American, (4) The Thai Fighter vs. Bogomolov Jr., Baccanello vs. (8) Soderling, (Q) Wassen vs. Saretta, and Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson vs. A.Garcia.

Massu Wins, Spain Takes a Hit at ATP Palermo

Top-seeded Olympic gold medal winner Nicolas Massu led the victors Wednesday on the dirt at the ATP stop in Palermo, defeating David Sanchez who was one of six Spanish losers on the day.

"It was a pretty good match, especially since I flew in from Chile and I was a bit tired from the long flight," Massu said. "I'm here to defend my title and look forward to the last few events of the year. I want to concentrate on winning matches and tournaments and hopefully qualify for (the Masters Cup in) Houston."

Also delivering blows to the normally-dominant claycourt nation were (4) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Marc "M-Lo" Lopez), (7) Dave Ferrer (d. Calatrava in three, hurting his homefront), (8) Tomas Berdych (d. O.Hernandez in three), Argentina's Juan "The Principality" Monaco (d. (3) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco), and Olivier "Mucus" Mutis (d. (6) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal). That's 1-for-6 on the day for Spain if you're counting.

"It's a very good win, I had been looking for a breakthrough after Roland Garros, more was maybe expected from myself after that," said Mucus after sliming The Prodigy. "Maybe he was tired from the Davis Cup but he fought until the end."

On tap for Thursday in second round action are (8) Berdych vs. Acasuso, (Q) "Julio &" Galo Blanco vs. (5) Volandri, (1) Massu vs. "You Say" Potito Starace (first meeting, watch this one), and (WC) Seppi vs. Vliegen.

Lee Leaves, Mello Moves On at ATP Shanghai

No. 5 seed Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea was the lone seed ousted at the ATP stop in Shanghai Wednesday, failing to take the court against Aussie Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs after giving the walkover with a back injury.

Winners on the day were (2) Jiri Novak (d. Lu), (6) Jarkko Nieminen (d. (Q) Phau in three), (7) Ricardo Mello "Yello" (d. Peya), and unseeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic (d. (WC) Van Lottum).

"I have been working very hard for a long time trying to improve my game so I think this is finally happening," said Mello Yello, breaking down the keys to success. "I want to gain more confidence and continue to win big matches. So working hard and gaining confidence, that is the key for success."

On Thursday in Shanghai are (7) Mello Yello vs. Tipsarevic, Sanguinetti vs. (6) Nieminen, (8) Gambill vs. (WC) Zhu, Pless vs. (3) Canas, (Q) Van Gemerden vs. (2) Novak, (Q) Roger-Vasselin vs. Burgsmuller, Weiner vs. Muller, and Carlsen vs. Arthurs.

Chinese Zheng, Li Pull Upsets at WTA Guangzhou

Two unseeded Chinese players had the crowds on their feet Wednesday at the WTA stop in Guangzhou, with qualifier Na Li outlasting No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6 in the third after losing the first set 0-6, and Jie Zheng crushing the rotund No. 5 seed Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-0.

Other winners on the day were No. 6 seed Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi (d. (Q) N.-N. Liu), Russian Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. Diaz-Oliva), and Slovak Martina "Nurse, I Need a" Sucha (d. (8) Klara "Kouky" Koukalova).

On tap for Thursday in second-round action are Pratt vs. T.Li, Strycova vs. Zheng, Dulko vs. Safina, Peng vs. Bartoli, Brandi vs. Panova, and Pennetta vs. Tanasugarn.

Spears Does It Again at WTA Seoul

Unseeded American Abigail "Oops I Did It Again" Spears was the headliner after play Wednesday at the WTA stop in Seoul, upsetting No. 2 seed Shinobu Obata of Japan 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Other winners on the day were No. 8 seed Sam Stosur (d. Voskoboeva), Poland's Marta Domachowska (d. (Q) C.-J. Chuang) who this week broke the Top 100 for the first time, and Croats Silvija Talaja (d. Yoshida 6-0 in the third) and Sanda Mamic (d. Castano).

On tap for Thursday are Srebotnik vs. Peer, Sharapova vs. Saeki, and Fujiwara vs. Kremer.

Clijsters Returns with a Win at WTA Hasselt

Kim Clijsters made her return from a four-month hiatus due to a wrist injury Wendesday at the WTA stop in Hasselt, Belgium, with the No. 2 seed defeating Czech Iveta Benesova 7-6(3), 6-2.

"After being out for so many months, I really enjoyed it," Clijsters said. "My wrist no longer troubled me. I was able to go all out."

Other seeded winners were (3) Elena "Lena" Bovina (d. (Q) Henke) and (4) Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues), while (6) Silvia Farina Elia was rolled 6-0, 6-2 by Czech Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova.

Unseeded winners were Spaniards Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives (d. countrywoman Marrero 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-0) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. countrywoman Sanchez Lorenzo).

On court Thursday in second round finales are Schiavone vs. Llagostera Vives, Maleeva vs. Callens, The Spreminator vs. Camerin, and Dementieva vs. Pastikova.

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